Passenger gadgets didn't cause Qantas accident

Official investigation contradicts original claims

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We all know perfectly well that in flight mode, phones, iPods and PCs on planes don't make the slightest bit of difference to aircraft safety, so it's reassuring to hear that even accident investigations seem to agree.

The news comes from Qantas as it looks into a mid-air incident last week over Australia that injured more than 70 people when an Airbus A330 suddenly climbed, then fell, on its own.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau now says the air data inertial reference system (we love those) simply told the flight control computer the wrong thing – nothing to do with phones or other gizmos.

Airbus chipped in too, adding that nothing like this has ever happened before, but we're all still left wondering what exactly did go wrong this time.